


The Office Pool

by DizzyDrea



Category: White Collar
Genre: Bets, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-25
Updated: 2012-03-25
Packaged: 2017-11-05 02:23:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/401406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As office pools go, it's got to be the strangest Neal's ever been involved in. That is, if he'd ever worked in an office before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Office Pool

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I confess to watching Dancing with the Stars. I don't watch every season; there are some people I just don't need to see dancing, thankyouverymuch. But this season has a great mix of personalities, and there are some truly talented people taking to the dance floor. I don't exactly know why my brain connected Dancing with White Collar, except that I figured that Neal would know who Katherine Jenkins actually is (when the rest of us went, "Who?").
> 
> So, really, this is just a little bit of mindless fluff that has absolutely nothing to do with anything. Oh, and it exists in that place in my head where Neal never ran because he didn't need to run, because Peter fixed things, just like he always does. So, in other words, totally AU, and yet not. 
> 
> Originally posted on LiveJournal.
> 
> Disclaimer: White Collar is the property of Jeff Eastin, Fox Television Studios, USA Networks, and a lot of other people who aren't me. I do this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~ 

"So, did you see it?" 

"Yeah. Amazing, wasn't it?" 

"Oh, god, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!" 

Neal Caffrey smirked. "It wasn't that good!" 

"Wanna bet?" Jones asked, his own smirk in place. 

"Okay, so maybe it was that good," Neal said. He paused, considering the other man. Clinton Jones had taste, and he bet he could figure out which part he'd liked best, but there wasn't any money in that, so he just asked. "So?" 

"You actually want me to pick?" 

Jones sounded affronted. "C'mon, you had to have a favorite. Everyone does." 

"Everyone does what?" Diana Barrigan asked as she rounded the corner into the coffee area. 

Neal and Jones shared a look which clearly stated that Jones wasn't giving it up for anything, but that Neal was welcome to. Neal already knew his reputation could withstand a little teasing, so he just shrugged. 

" _Dancing with the Stars_ ," he said, his smile daring her to say something, anything. 

Diana rolled her eyes. "You, too?" 

Jones nearly choked on his coffee. "You watched it last night? I'd never have figured you for a fan of that show." 

"I'm not," she said, shaking her head. "I was working on a couple of reports. Christie was watching." 

"Sure, Diana," Neal said, winking at her. "So, who was your favorite?" 

"What makes you think I have a favorite?" 

He caught the just-a-little-too-defensive tone in her voice. "Let me guess." He circled her, looking her up and down with a critical eye. She raised an eyebrow at him but held her ground. Not that he'd expected her to wilt under his examination. Not even when she was a rookie. He tapped a finger on his lips. "I'm going with Maria Menounos." 

"Please," she rolled her eyes again. "That girl can't even shake what her mama gave her." 

Jones' eyes went wide as Neal crowed in triumph. "I told you." 

"Yeah, yeah," Jones waved him off. "And I thought Maria did pretty well, considering she had to go first on the dance floor." 

Neal shrugged. "Diana's right, though. The Cha Cha needs a certain sassiness. I don't think she pulled it off." 

"Uh huh," Diana said. She leaned against the counter. "So who was your favorite?" 

"Katherine Jenkins," Neal said without thought. "She can sing like the angels, but I hadn't realized just how elegantly she can move. I was stunned." 

"She was good," Jones said, lifting his coffee mug as if in salute. 

"What about you, Jones?" Diana asked. 

"That's easy," he said, smiling. "My man Jaleel. Damned if Urkel can dance." 

All three shared a laugh at that. "You know, I saw Gregory Hines years ago. He was appearing in Paris, and I was lucky enough to get tickets." 

"Who'd you steal them from?" Diana asked. 

"Hey!" Neal protested. "I have, on occasion, procured things legally. I had a friend that worked at the theater; he got them for me." Jones and Diana shared a look, but wisely kept silent. "Anyway, I couldn’t help but think that Jaleel White reminded me a lot of Gregory Hines." 

"You weren't the only one saying it, either," Jones said. "Twitter was blowing up with it." 

Neal raised his eyebrow, filing that particular piece of information away. "What about Christie? Who'd she like?" 

Diana raised her coffee mug to take a sip, mumbling something into the steaming liquid. 

"What was that?" Jones asked. 

"She liked William Levy," she said, huffing. "Honest to god, if I didn't know her better, I'd have thought she was going to dump me on the spot." 

Neal barked out a laugh. "I think you're safe. You look better in the hats than he does." 

"Hey, do you think they'll get Gavin DeGraw to go without a hat this season?" Jones asked. "'Cuz I gotta tell ya, he looked only slightly more ridiculous than you do in one of those things." 

"That just goes to show how much taste you have," Neal said mock-indignantly. "And, no, I don't think he'll appear without the hat. I think he's balding and self-conscious about it." 

"Like Mozzie used to be?" Diana asked. 

Neal shrugged. "Mozzie agreed with you, Jones." 

"You watched together?" Jones asked. "I'd have thought he'd have avoided it at all costs. Government mind control, or some other nonsense." 

"And you wouldn't be wrong," Neal said. "Doesn’t mean he doesn't still watch it. We all did: June, Mozzie and I." 

"So who'd he like?" Diana asked curiously. 

"Let me guess, he liked Gladys Knight," Jones said, smiling. 

"June liked Gladys," Neal said, his smile growing. "She has fond memories of Motown. No, Moz has a thing for Melissa Gilbert." 

"Really?" Diana and Jones asked at virtually the same time. 

Neal rolled his eyes. "Really. Apparently he was obsessed with _Little House on the Prairie_ when he was a kid." 

Jones shook his head. "I'd have never figured him for a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. I mean, I know he reads a lot, but…" 

Jones trailed off as Neal shook his head. "Nope. Never read the books as far as I know. He likes Melissa Gilbert. Has some weird fantasy where she leaves her husband and falls madly in love with him." 

"Well, he's halfway there, anyway," Diana said with a snort. "I hear she and her husband are divorcing." 

"Don't tell Moz that, I beg you." Neal looked at Diana speculatively. "So, who was your favorite last night?" 

"Like I would tell you." 

"Come on," Neal said, putting on the full Caffrey, even though he knew she was immune. "We told you." 

Diana pursed her lips, obviously contemplating the merits of letting her secret out. "Fine. Donald Driver. The man can move." 

"You're not kidding," Jones said, shaking his head. At Diana's and Neal's surprised expressions, he shrugged. "What? He can." 

Neal and Diana exchanged a look, then shrugged. "He's not wrong," Neal said. "So, who do you think's going to win?" 

"William Levy," Peter said as he swept into the coffee area, mug in hand. 

"You watched _Dancing with the Stars_ , Peter?" Jones said, practically squeaking. 

"Watched it with El last night," he said as he poured himself some of the vile brew that passed for coffee in an FBI office. "Although, I do think Katherine Jenkins has some grace that the others might just underestimate." 

"See?" Neal asked triumphantly, pointing to Peter. "Even he agrees with me!" 

"I didn't say she was going to win," Peter said, winking at Neal. "I only said she can Foxtrot very well. She's doing the Jive next week, so we'll see." 

"He has a point," Jones said. "Two totally different dances." 

There was silence as each one contemplated the difficulties facing their favorites as they drank their coffee. Neal was the one to finally break the quiet. 

"So, anyone care for a friendly wager?" 

"Neal," Peter said warningly. 

"What?" Neal asked, pulling his innocent face. "I'm not talking money, here." 

"Then what exactly are you offering, Caffrey?" Jones asked. 

"I'll do paperwork for a week for whoever's favorite wins the mirror ball." 

"You do all my paperwork anyway, so that's not really an incentive," Peter observed. 

"Peter Burke!" Neal said, surprised. "Are you going in on a wager?" 

"Depends on what I get if I win." 

Neal contemplated that for a moment. "Dinner. You and El, in my loft. I'll even cook." 

"A romantic evening, just the two of you?" Diana asked, looking at Peter speculatively. "Sounds worth it to me." 

"What about us?" Jones asked. "Same deal?" 

"Depends," Neal said, eyes twinkling now. "What do I get if I win?" 

"A day outside your radius with whoever comes in second," Peter said immediately, as if he'd been thinking of it already. 

"Now that's a deal I'll take," Neal said. He stuck out his hand, shaking Peter's gleefully. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you." 

Peter looked at Jones and Diana, who both nodded. "Sounds like a fair deal to me. I win, I get to bring my latest date to your place for a romantic evening. I think I can sacrifice a day in a museum for that." 

"How do you know that's where I'll go?" Neal asked Jones, mildly affronted at being so easily read. "After all, Peter didn't specify exactly how far outside my radius I could go." 

"Manhattan," Peter said immediately. "You stay in Manhattan. There are plenty of places you can go outside your radius and still stay on this island." 

"Fair enough," Neal said, chuckling. He turned to Diana. "What do you say? You and Christie get a gourmet home-cooked meal if I win; I get to drag you around Manhattan if you lose?" 

Diana contemplated for a moment before sticking her hand out to shake Neal's. "Deal." 

"Now, I believe we have a case to work?" Peter asked his agents. 

Diana and Jones headed off to their desks, but Peter stayed behind, eyeing Neal speculatively. 

"You really watched _Dancing with the Stars_?" 

"Didn't you?" 

Peter gusted out a sigh. "Yeah. El watches every season. Satch and I can't exactly disappear for two hours." 

Neal reached out and patted Peter's arm. "And I'll bet you enjoy every second, curled up with your wife on the couch, watching other people swirl around the dance floor, Mr. Tango Argentina." 

With that, Neal headed off to his desk to bury himself in paperwork and research. He thought about the bet, and where he'd make them take him if he won. It was strange, to say the least, to realize that these people had gone from being his keepers to his friends. But that's what made life interesting. And if he won the office pool, it'd get even more interesting. 

And a whole lot more fun. 

~Finis


End file.
